Special Needs Planning

Lifetime gifts and inheritances intended for persons with special needs – such as developmental disabilities, dementia and psychiatric disorders – who receive, or will receive, needs based government assistance – such as Medi-Cal and SSI – often involve Special Needs Trust (SNT’s). SNT’s help preserve eligibility to receive continued government benefits while the trustee uses the assets in the SNT to supplement (and not to replace) the needed government assistance. SNT’s must be drafted carefully to satisfy stringent Medi-Cal and/or SSI limitation requirements. A SNT will help the assets last longer in order to provide for the comforts of life that are not provided by welfare benefits which are relied to pay for the essentials of life.